At 1:41 Thursday morning, many of us were pulled out of sleep by shaking and by our phones lighting up with wireless emergency alerts. The earthquake that struck the Boulder Creek area of the Santa Cruz Mountains registered a magnitude 4.6. No significant damage was reported in San Mateo Cou…

In California, state leaders often speak about fairness between communities. Yet when it comes to a key funding commitment to local governments, San Mateo County is being treated differently than almost every other county in the state.

Water in San Mateo County has always been about power. In this context, I facilitated a workshop on March 11 as part of Skyline College’s State of Water exhibit where students crafted lyric lines drawn from real-time observations and placed them alongside legal instruments (i.e., the 1879 Ca…

What if you learned about a state initiative that takes cars off California’s congested roads, cuts fuel consumption, and lowers carbon dioxide emissions — all backed by years of data and requiring no new technology or infrastructure? What if it saved taxpayers a quarter-billion dollars annually?

Last year, I wrote to the Glendale Unified school board urging a bell-to-bell ban on smartphones.

Joint U.S.-Israeli air strikes against Iran are underway. Iran’s Supreme Leader has been killed in what appears to have been a decapitation strike—an effort to accelerate the regime’s collapse or force Tehran to acquiesce to U.S. and Israeli demands.

I’m often in a minority among progressives because I am a staunch patriot. Granted, an objective reading of American history reveals many sad political choices, some of which were undeniably evil. But it also surfaces instances of noble decisions and sacrifices which made the world a better place.

You cannot read the news without hearing about schools’ struggle to prepare students for an immediate future shaped by AI. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of companies trying to sell AI tools to schools, and educators are scrambling to determine which ones will best prepare their students. I…

In early February, I took my kids to Belmont’s Community Center for a talk on the city’s hidden role in the Summer of Love and the 1960s music scene. Seventy-five people packed into a small classroom to hear about The Warlocks’ residency in Belmont. 

Having just celebrated another turn around the sun, I find myself trying to understand what makes some folks tick.

Lives are at stake. We can’t look away when teenagers are getting severely injured or killed riding vehicles that are prohibited on public roads. What most of us call e-bikes are actually not e-bikes at all.

In San Mateo County, we often talk about the “price of paradise.” We see it in our bustling downtowns, rising cost of everyday items, and, most acutely, in our monthly housing costs.

The White House, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, D.C., has served as the official residence of every president since John Adams moved there in 1800. 

An artificial intelligence transformation as profound as the Industrial Revolution is occurring. While I remain a firm believer in the enormous power and promise of AI to solve complex problems, such as curing diseases, I also believe we have a deep responsibility to keep our economy human c…

Recently, a 128 unit downtown San Mateo apartment proposal was approved by the Planning Commission. The project description says it will include 20 "affordable" below-market-rate units, half for very low-income brackets and the other half for moderate-income households. As is usual in these …

With each new tragedy, the moral imperative to act grows stronger. By now, it is undeniable that something must be done. We need to protect our youth — and ourselves — from throttle-activated electric two-wheelers commonly referred to as “e-bikes.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order addressing the mental health crisis among young men and boys speaks to something many of us see every day, even if we don’t always say it out loud.

I’m a high school junior, which means I’ll be putting on a cap and gown next year. But before I do, I’d really like to see California formally integrate digital wellness into existing health education classes. 

San Mateo County is at a pivotal crossroads. As local leaders explore ways to address our region’s staggering child care crisis, several funding mechanisms are under consideration. Most notably, the county is currently commissioning a poll (conducted by McGuire Research) to gauge resident su…

The death of 4-year-old Ayden Fang in August of 2025 after an e-bike collided with a compact SUV that veered onto a Burlingame sidewalk is an enormous tragedy.

While the eyes of the nation are on the horror unfolding in Minneapolis at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, our democracy itself and voting rights in particular, are also under increasing and insidious attacks. I do not say this lightly. The threat is coming directly…

Your phone pings at 2 a.m. Heavy rain has been falling for hours. Water is rising in the street. Your neighbor is loading up the car. Someone online says your area is about to lose power. 

This year, the NAACP San Mateo County Branch marks 100 years of unwavering service; one century of standing firm in the face of injustice, challenging inequity wherever it shows up, and fighting for the dignity and rights of every resident who calls this county home.

These are the facts and they are undisputed.

As members of the Leagues of Women Voters of San Mateo County, we are deeply alarmed by the recent and escalating use of force by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the threat of domestic military engagement in our country.

I write to you as someone who understands the evangelical world you come from because I grew up in it too. I know the Bible stories, the altar calls, the sincere prayers and the genuine belief that we are called to follow Jesus. That shared background is precisely why I feel compelled to wri…

Recently I was driving down El Camino Real toward San Mateo and I found myself surrounded by three Waymo taxis.

Academic achievement in school is important, but kids need much more to succeed in today’s world. Equal attention should be given to social-emotional education, especially for young teens. Without a strong emotional foundation and the skills needed to navigate relationships, academic success…

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

As we head into 2026, it already feels clear that 2025 will be remembered as a turning point: the year artificial intelligence became a regular part of daily life. ChatGPT is now as ubiquitous as Google, Waymo cars are a familiar sight on big city streets, and distinguishing between real and…

On a late wintry afternoon recently, I was in my childhood neighborhood and I drove by my old elementary school — Meadow Heights — in San Mateo. I stepped from the car and peered through the black cyclone fence that bordered the school. The playground was empty, and standing there, my eyes s…

Even those of us who don’t pray might be willing to pray now. Because we need all the help we can get to remember we aren’t alone and are more powerful than we know.

Across California, Christmas morning looked familiar: wrapping paper everywhere, parents filming and kids tearing into boxes. This year, some of those boxes held something new — and far more dangerous than most are willing to admit: electric bikes. 

How did our regional housing supply get so out of balance and how does that impact our cities?

The winter holidays are over. Decorations are stored. A list of New Year’s resolutions has been made. A bright new year approaches. You might feel that you can relax since you’ve made it through another busy season.

As a faith leader, and as a human, what I am thinking about this holiday season are the faces of all those so deeply impacted by the high cost of housing — the woman working three jobs who still can’t afford rent, the teacher forced to move two counties away from the students she loves, the …

Dear Editor — I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Getting into college is harder than ever. Every year, Americans spend about $500 million on “educational consultants” who help students navigate applying to college. Most first-generation, low-income students don’t have access to those resources. 

In San Mateo County, we are fortunate to live in a community that gives generously financially, civically and personally.

I have been fascinated by weather my entire life. That fascination led me to study climatology, then into a career as a geologist studying how water, weather and terrain create landslides across the Bay Area. 

At the close of the year, local government entities across San Mateo County collectively have a $9.1 billion endowment; slightly bigger than Dartmouth College’s and slightly smaller than Cornell’s. Unlike those endowments which are treated as long-term assets and invested accordingly, we tre…

Two years ago, San Mateo residents made a significant and forward-looking choice. By approving the city’s Stormwater Initiative, we collectively agreed to invest in long-overdue storm system upgrades to reduce flooding risk, protect neighborhoods and better prepare for increasingly intense w…

At first the plan for the property a block from UC Berkeley was modest: build a two-unit accessory dwelling behind a pair of small apartment buildings.

Sure, California can swear off fossil fuels and shut down its nuclear plants, powering itself entirely with wind, water, and sun. 

Recently, U.S. and local housing and government leaders traveled overseas through the Global Policy Leadership Academy’s Social Housing Field Study to Austria to witness Vienna’s housing model at work.

It has been reported that the Trump administration is ready to allow drilling off the California coast.

“Writing is the social act of the solitary man.” Tobias Wolff shared this reflection on Faulkner at IAVA’s inaugural Beyond the Uniform speaker series which launched this month in Atherton, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump rarely agree on anything. Their feud has played out for years on immigration raids, wildfire relief and the moral direction of American democracy. 

In San Mateo County, we proudly celebrate our natural beauty, diversity and innovation. Behind our scenic shoreline, bustling downtowns and tree-lined neighborhoods lies a quieter and even more essential force: the small, locally owned businesses that give our communities their character, re…